The election is no longer about Donald Trump, but it's more about how people feel about Hillary Clinton, outspoken billionaire investor and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said Friday, while giving his own advice about how she should behave during the upcoming presidential debates and how reporters should get tough on the GOP nominee.
"When I talk to the people, no one is excited about Donald," Cuban told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. "It is more about how they feel about Secretary Clinton. I think when you look at Secretary Clinton's negatives, that's what's driving the election."
Cuban, who endorsed Clinton in July, told the program he also likes that she has invited the press aboard her plane, so she can stress topics to the press.
"It is 100 percent about whether or not Secretary Clinton can connect to voters and whether or not she can get her ground game going and get them out of their houses and to the polls," said Cuban.
The billionaire earlier this week told Fox Business host Neil Cavuto that nobody is better at "setting the agenda for the media" than Trump, calling him a master at headline porn, reports Business Insider, and on Friday told MSNBC that Trump drives topics rather than dealing with real issues.
"You learn this in the sports industry, where you say I love this player, I love him, I love him, then you trade him the next day," Cuban said. "You drive the topic so you don't deal with the real issues. Donald is a master of that . . . he knows as long as he gives you topics, things to discuss — headline porn — you don't get to address the real issues."
When it comes to the debates, Cuban said he expects Trump will keep throwing jabs at Clinton to keep her on the defensive, and he has a suggestion for her: Smile.
"Every time he says something stupid she's got to smile because that's what will drive him crazy," said Cuban. "He goes nuts when somebody thinks he isn't smart. There is a reason why he always mentions where he went to school. There is a reason why he needs to have his ego stroked.
"He doesn't have confidence in his own intellectual ability apparently, and so when you question that, even with a subtle smile, a little giggle, a little shake of your head, he will go nuts. That's what I would tell her to do."
As for interviewing Trump, Cuban said journalists should just keep on him.
"What I would say to him is, 'You don't understand the question, do you?'" Cuban told the journalists on the show's panel. "I would just get to the heart of the matter. I know you guys have tried to re-assert him back to the topic often, but I would get to the heart of the matter.
"Do you understand this question? Then I would ask a follow-up question. Do you know where Aleppo is? Do you know what the issues are? Do you know what's the history of the city and the conflict? If you stay with it, he will crumble."
And, Cuban said he wishes he could moderate one of the presidential debates. "I would crush him," he said of Trump.
Cuban denied, though, that he was brought on to roleplay as Trump during Clinton's debate preparation, as he hasn't been asked.
"I would love to help her," said Cuban. "I think I could guide her through the email question specifically. But what I would tell her to do is smirk a lot at his answers."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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